Innocence Awry
Sarah Blackwelder

May 30 - June 24, 2006

In this series, Sarah Blackwelder paints individual and group portraits – each laden with narrative suggestion – of a humorous and poignant array of stuffed and mechanical toys. Most of the toys are vintage playthings showing the wear of years of loving use. On first glance, they are adorable, nostalgic references to bygone eras – both a naïve, sentimental era in popular culture and the more personal era of childhood. On closer viewing they become documentaries of the complicated range of the darker side of human emotions and relationships. Using a rich, dark palette, an extremely articulate rendering of the figure, and a strong, horizontal light source, Blackwelder paints intensely psychological images where the shadow of the “sitter” is personified to the extent that it becomes a stronger, more human alter-ego. In paintings that depict groupings of toys, the same sureness and enriched palette carry forward the suggestion of a recent event, sinister perhaps, naughty for sure, and its unfolding aftermath.

View the full Press Release here.